HomeMy WebLinkAboutE-9 Staff Report - Neighborhood Coyote Program Amendment No. 1CONSENT ITEM
E-9
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
VIA: SERGIO GONZALEZ, CITY MANAGER
FROM: NICO DE ANDA-SCAIA, DEPUTY CITY MANAGER
DATE: JULY 19, 2021
SUBJECT: AMENDMENT No. 1 TO MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT WITH THE SAN
GABRIEL VALLEY COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS FOR CONTINUED
PARTICIPATION IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY NEIGHBORHOOD
COYOTE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
BACKGROUND:
In September 2019, the City of Azusa entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with
the San Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (SGVCOG) for coyote management services
and implementation of a regional San Gabriel Valley Coyote Management Implementation Plan.
Under this arrangement, the SGVCOG serves as the umbrella organization that is responsible for
providing public outreach and education, promoting effective human-coyote conflict mitigation
strategies, and supporting a robust wildlife reporting and response mechanism on behalf of
participating cities. The SGVCOG currently provides Neighborhood Coyote Program services to
the cities of Azusa, Alhambra, Arcadia, Covina, Irwindale, Montebello, Rosemead, San Gabriel,
San Marino, and Temple City.
The existing agreement with the SGVCOG expires on October 31, 2021, and therefore both
parties seek to renew the current MOA for a period of two (2) years commencing on November
1, 2021 and continuing through November 30, 2023. At the conclusion of this two-year term, the
Agreement may be extended annually with mutual written consent of both parties. The total cost
to the City for coyote management services amounts to $10,000 annually, and either party may
terminate the Agreement with a 30-day advance notice.
APPROVED
CITY COUNCIL
7/19/2021
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council take the following action:
1) Approve, and authorize the City Manager to execute subject to City Attorney approval as
to form, Amendment No. 1 to the Memorandum of Agreement between the San Gabriel
Valley Council of Governments and the City of Azusa for continued participation in the
San Gabriel Valley Neighborhood Coyote Program.
ANALYSIS:
As the region’s surrounding foothills become urbanized, wildlife encounters between residents
and coyotes have become more prevalent. In response to growing concerns and needs of local
communities, a Coyote Management Task Force was formed by the San Gabriel Valley Council
of Governments (SGVCOG) in coordination with local cities, legislators, the California
Department of Fish and Wildlife, the County of Los Angeles, the University of California, and
various other external stakeholders. Through these efforts, a comprehensive framework was
developed in 2019 to deliver coyote management services, information and resources to the San
Gabriel Valley region.
The Coyote Management Implementation Plan (CMIP), now referred to as the San Gabriel
Valley Neighborhood Coyote Program, was created as a model for providing regional coyote
management services through the SGVCOG on behalf of participating member cities. Through
an established Memorandum of Agreement, and since September 2019, the City of Azusa has
been able to effectively provide coyote-related management services, information and resources
to its residents through this partnership. Currently, nine other local municipalities subscribe to
services through this program. They include the cities of Alhambra, Arcadia, Covina, Irwindale,
Montebello, Rosemead, San Gabriel, San Marino, and Temple City.
Under this arrangement, the SGVCOG serves as the umbrella organization that is responsible for
providing public outreach and education, promoting effective human-coyote conflict mitigation
strategies, and supporting a robust wildlife reporting and response mechanism on behalf of
participating cities. In its capacity, the SGVCOG also serves as a regional voice that
communicates and partners with relevant stakeholders with the goal of reducing human conflicts
with coyotes in the community.
Programs and services offered to the cities under this program are as follows:
• Guidance and Recommendations to the City on Coyote Issues and Public Education
Efforts;
• Community Meetings and Training Workshops;
• Youth Outreach and Education Programs;
• Mailers and Social Media Outreach;
• Website Resources and Materials;
• Online Coyote Incident Reporting System;
• Designated SGVCOG Program Staff and Coyote Reporting Hotline;
• Incident Follow-up and Coordination with Local/County/State Agencies;
• Providing Cities with Monthly Reports on Coyote Sightings and Interactions;
Components of the CMIP are designed to increase communities’ knowledge and understanding
of how coyotes behave, and to make clear how such behavior can be managed or reduced to
eliminate human conflicts with coyotes. Components of this plan are developed based on
balancing respect and protection of wildlife without compromising public safety.
The existing Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the City of Azusa and the SGVCOG
for implementation of the Coyote Management Implementation Plan/Neighborhood Coyote
Program is set to expire on October 31, 2021. These services have been a valued resource for the
City and its residents over the past two years, and therefore staff is recommending that the City
Council approve an Amendment to this Agreement (Attachment 1) thereby extending
participation in the San Gabriel Valley Neighborhood Coyote Program.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The annual cost for this program is $10,000 and is included in the Neighborhood Services
Division budget for Fiscal Year 2021/2022 under Operational Program Expenses Account
#6625. Budget allocation requests will be made accordingly for future years of service.
Prepared by: Reviewed and Approved:
Nico De Anda-Scaia Sergio Gonzalez
Deputy City Manager City Manager
Attachments:
1) Draft Amendment No. 1 to Memorandum of Agreement
2) Memorandum of Agreement - San Gabriel Valley Neighborhood Coyote Program
3) Neighborhood Coyote Program Services 2020-21 Recap
1506398.1 1
AMENDMENT NO. 1
TO
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS AND THE CITY OF AZUSA FOR PARTICIPATION
IN THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY NEIGHBORHOOD COYOTE PROGRAM
This Amendment No. 1 (“Amendment”) to the Memorandum of Agreement Between the San
Gabriel Valley Council of Governments (the “SGVCOG”) and the City of Azusa (the “City”) For
Participation in the San Gabriel Valley Neighborhood Coyote Program, dated July 19, 2021 (the
“MOA”) shall be effective upon the date executed by both Parties hereto (“Effective Date”).
RECITALS
A. SGVCOG and City entered into the MOA to participate in the San Gabriel Valley Coyote
Management Implementation Plan; and
B. SGVCOG has changed the name from Coyote Management Implementation Plan to
Neighborhood Coyote Program; and
C. SGVCOG and City desire to enter into this Amendment to reflect the name change and to
make other changes to the MOA as are set forth herein.
NOW THEREFORE, the Parties agree to amend the Agreement as follows:
I.Wherever in the Memorandum of Agreement the term “Coyote Management
Implementation Plan” appears, such term shall be replaced with Neighborhood Coyote
Program.
II.Article I. Term, shall be deleted in its entirety and replaced with the following:
The term of this MOA shall commence on November 1, 2021 and shall continue through
November 30, 2023. SGVCOG’s Executive Director shall have the option to extend this
Agreement with mutual written agreement of both parties, subject to the same terms and
conditions contained herein.
III.Article II. Responsibilities of the Parties, Section A. Subsection 10, shall be deleted in
its entirety and replaced with the following:
10.The SGVCOG shall invoice the City for their share in the cost of the San Gabriel Valley
Neighborhood Coyote Program. The total invoice amount shall not exceed Ten
Thousand Dollars ($10,000) annually.
Attachment 1
1506398.1 2
(a) Initial Payment Amount. The City shall pay no more than Ten Thousand Dollars
($10,000) for the initial payment for the 2021 – 2022 fiscal year. The initial invoice
will be sent upon execution of this MOA and due on July 1st, 2021.
(b) Annual Payment Amount. For each subsequent fiscal year, commencing with the
2022 – 2023 fiscal year, the City shall pay no more than Ten Thousand Dollars
($10,000) annually on a fiscal year (July 1st to June 30th) basis to the SGVCOG
for participation in the San Gabriel Valley Neighborhood Coyote Program.
IV. Article II. Responsibilities of the Parties, Section B., Subsection 1., shall be deleted in
its entirety and replaced with the following:
1. Participate in coordination calls and meetings with the SGVCOG and all municipalities
that have entered into a Memorandum of Agreement with the SGVCOG for the
Neighborhood Coyote Program for the November 1, 2021 through November 30, 2023
term.
V. Article III. Project Management, Section A, shall be deleted in its entirety and replaced
with the following:
A. Project Managers
1. For the purposes of this MOA, SGVCOG designates the following individual as its
Project Manager: Samuel Pedersen, Management Analyst.
2. For the purposes of this MOA, the City designates the following individual as its
Project Manager: Nico De Anda-Scaia (City staff).
Either Party may change the designations set forth herein upon written notice to the other
Party.
VI. Article VIII. Other Terms and Conditions, Section A, shall be deleted in its entirety and
replaced with the following:
A. Notices: All notice required or permitted to be given under this Agreement shall be in
writing and shall be personally delivered, or sent by electronic mail or certified mail,
postage prepaid and return receipt requested, addressed as follows:
To SGVCOG: Samuel Pedersen
Management Analyst
1000 S. Fremont Ave, Unit 42
Building A-10N, Suite 10-210
Alhambra, CA 91803
1506398.1 3
(626) 214-8508
spedersen@sgvcog.org
with a copy to: Marisa Creter
Executive Director
1000 S. Fremont Avenue, Unit 42
Building A-10N, Suite 10-210
Alhambra, CA 91803
(626) 457-1800
mcreter@sgvcog.org
To City: Sergio Gonzalez
City Manager
213 E. Foothill Boulevard
Azusa, CA 91702
(626) 812-5238
sergio.gonzalez@azusaca.gov
with a copy to: Jeffrey Cornejo
City Clerk
213 E. Foothill Boulevard
Azusa, CA 91702
(626) 812-5229
jcornejo@azusaca.gov
Integration. This Amendment amends, as set forth herein, the MOA and except as
specifically amended hereby the MOA shall remain in full force and effect. To the extent
there is any conflict between this Amendment and the MOA, the terms and provisions of
this Amendment shall control. This Amendment and the MOA, including any exhibits
attached to the MOA, integrate all the terms and conditions of the Parties’ agreement and
supersede all negotiations with respect hereto.
The Parties hereby enter into this Amendment No. 1 upon the Effective Date as is set forth above.
[Signatures on Next Page]
1506398.1 4
FOR THE CITY OF AZUSA
By:
Sergio Gonzalez
City Manager
Date:
ATTEST:
Jeffrey Cornejo
City Clerk
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
Marco A. Martinez
City Attorney
FOR THE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY
COUNCIL OF GOVERNMENTS
By:
Marisa Creter
Executive Director
Date:
APPROVED AS TO FORM:
David DeBerry
SGVCOG General Counsel
MEMORANDUM OF AGREEMENT
BETWEEN fflE SAN GABRIEL VALLEY COUNC� OF
GOVERNMENTS AND THE CITY OF AZUSA
ATTACHMENT 2
FOR PARTICIPATION OF COYOTE MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION PLAN
This Memorandum of Agreement ("MOA" or "Agreement") is made as of September,
2019by and between the City of Azusa a municipal corporation ("City"), and the San Gabriel
Valley Council of Governments, a California joint powers authority ("SGVCOO"). City and SGVCOG may be referred to herein collectively as the "Parties" or individually as a "Party.''
RECITALS:
A.SGVCOG was established to have a unified voice to maximize resources and advocatefor regional and member interests to improve the quality of life in the San Gabriel
Valley by the member cities and other local governmental agencies.
B.City seeks to participate in a Coyote Management Implementation Plan that was
developed by the SGVCOG Coyote Management Task Force.
C.Under the Coyote Management Implementation Plan, SGVCOG would serve as an
entity to provide informational coyote public outreach and education efforts, promoteeffective human-coyote conflict mitigation strategies, and support a robust wildlife
reporting and response mechanism on behalf of City.
D.City and SGVCOG desire to set forth the terms of their ongoing collaboration withrespect to this effort in this MOA.
NOW, THEREFORE, the Parties agree as follows:
I.TERM:
The tenn of this MOA between the Parties shall commence on November I, 2019 and
shall cont inue through October 31, 2021. The term of this MOA may be extended by mutual written agreement of the Parties.
n.RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE PARTIES:
A.SOVCOG.
SOVCOG will:
1.Coordinate and implement community meetings/trainings every year.
SGVCOG will diligently market the community meetings/trainings prior tothe event dates; however, attendance levels are not guaranteed.2.Conduct youth outreach and education programs for local schools.3.Coordinate to send mailers to neighborhoods with high numbers of humancoyote encounters and incidents.
4.Manage a website or webpage that contains important and helpfulinformation for residents and businesses regarding coyotes.
H I G H -I M P A C T I N T E R A C T I O N S
The Neighborhood Coyote Program provides high value one-on-one educational interactions with residents conducted across
multiple platforms, including: phone calls, emails and social media. Phone/email interactions usually last at least 15 minutes
and may be more for personalized response and follow up. This saves City staff time, while providing quality customer service
to residents!
V I R T U A L C O M M U N I T Y
E V E N T S
In lieu of in-person community events in 2020, we offered virtual
Coyote Twitterchats (March), engaged in a virtual booth at LA
Regional P-22 Day (October), and engaged in numerous drive-thru
community events throughout the SGV region. We hope to
participate in any City of Azusa events going forward!
Since including us on the City of Azusa official website, residents
have embraced the Neighborhood Coyote Program as the go-to
resource for coyote reporting. Since the program began in January
2020, there have been 21 reports from within the City of Azusa. Most
of these reports were made after the City added the Neighborhood
Coyote Program reporting info to its website. Compared to other
cities, residents seem to be most interested in reporting incidences of
Level 3 (pet attack) or higher.
R E P O R T I N G & H O T L I N E
We offer Coyote Safety Town Halls and other trainings as
opportunities for residents to ask experts questions about coyote
safety. Speakers may include biologists from the CA Fish & Wildlife,
LA County, or animal control. In February of 2021, we also presented
at the Mountain Cove HOA and currently plan to expand outreach to
businesses and other community organizations.
P R E S E N T A T I O N S &
T R A I N I N G S
We distributed 200 coloring books, 300 multilingual brochures, &
100 coyote fliers to the Azusa library. Flyers and brochures are still
available in English, Spanish and Chinese. Virtual materials include
our new deterrents booklet and our in-progress business specific
pamphlet. Additionally, the Neighborhood Coyote Program maintains
an active presence on: NextDoor, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
M A R K E T I N G R E S O U R C E S
One of the main advantages of the Neighborhood Coyote Program is
the ability to coordinate regional resources. For instance, if we get
reports of coyote dens, we may coordinate with LA County or City
Code Enforcement depending on jurisdiction. CDFW and LA County
may also be called to investigate reports of coyote attacks on humans
or feeding leading to habituated coyote behavior. We may also
coordinate with local animal control for reports of injured coyotes.
R E F E R R A L S T O R E S O U R C E SCOORDINATION W I T H
S C H O O L D I S T R I C T S
We have had coordination calls with Azusa Unified School District.
Additional coordination with School Districts has been identified as an
important element during COVID-19 and will be ramped up in 2021.
N E I G H B O R H O O D C O Y O T E P R O G R A M
J a n u a r y 2 0 2 0 - J u n e 2 0 2 1 R e c a p
C I T Y O F A Z U S A